Why Republicans Need to Accept Donald Trump

At this point in the race, Donald Trump is no longer a “joke.” In fact, he is in first place for the Republican nomination.

So, for starters, let us go over very quickly how a politician gets nominated by the party. They announce they will run for the primary. Then, they campaign to get a certain number of delegates needed to secure the nomination. Then, the party officially nominates them. So as the primary season continues, everyone oohs and ahhs over the Iowa Caucus and the New Hampshire primary to see who has the best chance from the beginning, then looks to the major states such as Texas, Florida, California, and New York to see who can really secure the nomination. Each state, based on their population, has a certain number of electoral votes (this corresponds to the number of Congressmen in the state. Every state no matter what gets two senators).

At the beginning of the primary race, Trump immediately soared to the top of the polls. At the first Fox News debate, Trump was the only candidate to raise his hand when asked if he would run as an Independent if he lost the GOP primary. The RNC freaked out, and made all the candidates sign a pledge to the party. Everyone waited anxiously to see if Trump would sign the pledge. The idea of Trump running as an Independent brought up bad memories for the Republican Party. Everyone suddenly remembered George H. W. Bush’s run in 1990 against Bill Clinton. Ross Perot, who ran as an Independent instead of a Republican, took Bush’s votes away and secured a victory for Clinton. The “divide and conquer” strategy works in politics, and it secured a win for the opposite party. The GOP did not want that to happen again.

But now, Trump is not just leading the polls, he is leading with state wins and delagate numbers. While Cruz won the first caucus (Iowa) and the first heavy hitter state (Texas), Trump won New Hampshire, South Carolina, Nevada, Alabama, Georgia, Massachusetts, Tennessee, Virginia, Arkansas, Vermont, Louisiana, and Kentucky. Ted Cruz won Iowa, Texas, Oklahoma, Alaska, Maine, and Kansas. And Marco Rubio, who certain politicians still believe should be the candidate, has only taken Puerto Rico.

So in total, Trump has won double what Crux has won, and both candidates cannot even be compared to Rubio, who needs Florida if he wants to stay in this race. If Trump were Rubio, however, his nomination basically would already be set in stone. Twelve wins at this stage are a true indication of the chance a candidate has to be the nominee, but the question is whether or not the RNC will accept him as one.

In fact, Trump’s victories show how little the RNC and the media’s influence is on this race. There is a debate, everyone says Trump lost, his numbers soar. Romney comes out and openly discusses what a joke Trump is, and his numbers soar. As a candidate in the Republican Party, Trump has been treated incredibly unfair. And despite that, he continues to win.

The problem with this election cycle is that the people are voting, their voices are being heard, but no one wants to hear them. Or maybe, they want to refuse to believe what they are saying. By brokering the campaign, or by trying to “stop Trump” as so many newspapers have headlined this week, they are in fact quieting democracy and many people’s right to vote. If they voted for Trump, unfortunately for those who dislike him, that is their choice, and it is their constitutional right to do so. This right would be protected if the authors and the politicians liked the candidate, but since they do not, they want to somehow ignore the democratic process altogether, and figure out a way to make sure he does not win. One cannot advocate for individual liberty, and then tell someone their vote is wrong.

For this reason, the Republican Party needs to drop favorites and listen to the people. The only reason any person in government has their power is because Americans voted for them. Without the people, there would be no party at all. The RNC should wait until the people have spoken before they speak. And for those who want to broker the convention, that is a true expulsion of the democratic system, and everything the constitution vows to protect. Trump is funding his own campaign, he will not owe special interest groups anything. This and the economy are one of the main reasons Trump is in first place.

Trump is running as a Republican, and he is winning as a Republican. While many Republicans want to turn away from this, they have to make a choice: do we listen to what voters have said, or to what the media and party leaders have said? I think the answer is clear. Instead of trying to “Stop Trump,” we should look at why he is doing so well, where the party and current politicians have failed, and how we can all move forward, together.